Fujitsu, known for tablet computing long before the advent of Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, offered a nicely done slate last year employing the new OS. With the new Fujitsu LifeBook T3010 ($2,049 direct) convertible notebook, the company will compete in the larger portion of the Tablet PC market. While the T3010 fuses Fujitsu's successful ultraportable PC and slate PC designs, the device has a few trade-offs that make it hard to recommend given the competition.

First, we should give praise where it's due: The T3010 is the fastest Tablet PC we've seen to date. Containing the 1.4-GHz Pentium M and 512MB of DDR SDRAM, the T3010 scored a 23.8 on Business Winstone 2002 and a 30.6 on Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2003. Battery life was a decent 3 hours 47 minutes on our BatteryMark 2002 test.

The T3010's performance and small size1.4 by 11.5 by 9.3 inches (HWD)are likable features in an ultraportable notebook. Other fine features include its tactile, 19-mmpitch keyboard and system weight of 3.85 pounds. In theory, the T3010's 12.1-inch XGA screen should be an advantage, but we found it to be subpar. In testing, the panel exhibited a lot of glare and provided a lackluster motion-video experience. What's worse is that when the T3010 is used as a slate in portrait mode, the panel has a noticeably poor viewing angle; shifting the device a few degrees right or left in your arm causes annoying color shifts.

If you can somehow get past the screen problems, using the T3010 as a slate is very comfortable; the weight distribution makes it feel about a pound lighter than it is. We like the stylus, which is stored right on the face of the LCD bezel. We also like the solid, single-swivel hinge that facilitates mode conversion.

When we walked around with the T3010, we got mixed results on our wireless obstacle course. At the 60-foot marker (with minimal obstructions), the Intel 802.11bequipped unit achieved an above-average 5.3-Mbps transfer rate. Rounding a corner and venturing to the 120-foot marker, however, we got 1.2-Mbps of throughputwell below the average of other 802.11b notebooks we've tested.

The chassis includes a wired Ethernet port, two USB 2.0 ports, a modem, and two Type II PC Card slots. Fujitsu doesn't include an optical drive, so you'll need to add that separately. But the T3010 is still reasonably priced given its dual personality as an ultraportable/tablet. Just make sure you can live with the screen before you buy.